


After the Void

by Oh_Toasty



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aesir Tony, Gen, Immortal Tony, Magic Tony, The Void, canon alternate universe, Æsir Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 06:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4337843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oh_Toasty/pseuds/Oh_Toasty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is a god living like a human, so after feeling several Æsir come and go from Earth he gets curious. After heading to Asgard Tony learns that Loki has fallen in to the same void that Tony once found himself in and so he swears to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After the Void

He was alone in his workshop making improvements on the mark VI when he felt it, a force that he hadn't felt in the past two thousand something years. The bifrost was at work. Gently feeling out with his Seiðr, Tony narrowed his eyes as he felt the presence of an Æsir. Before he broke his connection he felt the dull thump of Mjölnir, the hammer he had once helped three dwarves make (unbeknownst to them of course) by tampering with the star whose core had been used to mold the hammer. He had not felt it since then; if Mjölnir was on Midgard, change was sure to follow. 

He wasn't wrong, Tony found. He soon felt the arrival of the warrior three and Sif along with a strange contraption he discovered was called the destroyer. When the Æsir had left Tony was content to ignore that been there at all despite finding them all through out SHEILD's files. Then he felt the bifrost crack and Tony pulled himself out of his mansion and headed over to Pepper's office. He entered the building with no problems, all of the employees knew who he was, and went straight to her personal office only to enter with out knocking. 

Ignoring the fierce glare that Pepper sent him as he kicked his feet up on to her desk Tony began, "Hey Pep, you remember those Æsir that I told you about? Well, we recently had a couple visit Midgard and now SHEILD is all over it and I'm left wondering why they were here."

Sighing Pepper responded, "First of all, It's Earth not Midgard, you've been here for two thousand years you should know that. Secondly, I'll clear your schedule so that you can go and check out the other realms. However, if you aren't back in two weeks I will eviscerate you upon you're return. Now get out of here, I'm surprised you've managed to stay on Earth this long."

"Thank you Pepper," Tony sang. "I knew there was a reason I told you what I was."

"There was a reason," She agreed, "but this wasn't it. You were completely drunk when you told me."

"And you still believed me," he cooed. "I'll be back soon Peps, and I'll give you all the juicy details."

With that the inventor disappeared leaving an exasperated Pepper behind to cancel his appointments. 

Tony went back to his Malibu mansion before leaving in order to get stuff together and give JARVIS his goodbyes. Though the AI had only been around for twelve years he was Tony's closest friend who knew all of his secrets. He told JARVIS of his traveling plans as he used his Seiðr to shape shift into a fire demon so that would blend in at muspelheim the first of his many stops. Then with a deep breath Tony transported to the other realm. 

He found that not to much had changed in the first couple realms that he had visited and then he had arrived on Jotunheim. The damage there was fresh it couldn't have been any older than a week. When he touched down, this time in the blue skin of a Frost Giant, he laid eyes on collapsed cities with no new snow to build with. Off the the side there was a pile of bodies which had been recovered from the damaged buildings and Tony felt bile rise in his throat as he wondered how so much havoc had been wrecked. Then he shook his head to clear it and went to to take shelter at one of the surviving inns. 

Tony didn't stay long. 

Instead that very night he snuck out of his room and summoned snow praying that it would be enough for the Jotnar to at least begin their rebuilding. Then he had left heading straight for Asgard knowing that even the weak mages that had been present there would recognize his magical signature. 

Upon Asgard he changed appearance once more, this time he appeared to be a tall (he had always wanted to be tall), lean young man with a mess of black curls atop of his head. Though he remained invisible as he completed his first task and crept into the Rainbow Bridge to cast a repair spell. With in the next week it would be back to full strength. Once that was accomplished Tony returned to the heart of Asgard. 

Nobody noticed as he slipped in to the castle along side a flock of servants, nor did they notice when he walked away straight towards the chambers where he could hear Mjölnir singing to him. 

Upon his arrival in the empty chambers, Tony rushed to Mjölnir running his fingertips down its side gently. It had been a long time since he had seen this creation of his and he was glad to see that it not been warped or damaged like some of his others. It always angered him when that happened and he would have to come and repair it himself, hence why he had come to Asgard despite the promise he had told himself. The rainbow bridge could not repair its self and as Antonius, God of all Forges, it was his duty. 

After all he mused, his moniker wasn't quite accurate. He wasn't the God of Forges so such as he was the God of Creations. Still his denomination had been all that the human had thought he could do, all that the could create with, and so it had made sense. 

Tony was broken out of his thoughts by Mjölnir thrusting magic at him. He grasped the unexpected gift wildly and gaped as he found him self in the memories of her wielder. 

Cold, he was cold and the world was cracking. His brother driven mad by their own father was before him destroying the place from which he hailed. Struggling through emotion, he brought down the hammer onto the bridge one last time. Suddenly, Loki is dangling off of the edge with only Gungnir to grip. Then Odin appears and Loki is gone, alone in the void.

Gasping, Tony relinquished his grip on Mjölnir and left the room in a hurry. He knew of the emptiness of the void and how only madness could hail from there. No doubt Loki had thought that it would kill him, nobody would willingly go into the void otherwise. 

Tony felt for the boy he really did, but he would not go into the void just to rescue him. Instead he vowed to help Loki if he ever came across him and return home. 

The next year passed quickly with Tony spending his time as Ironman. He kept an eye out for any sign of Loki but he wasn't very vigilant for it usually took at least a thousand years for the void to spit something out. He never planned on something else getting Loki out first. 

When Loki reappeared, he didn't know at first. Actually, he never even figured it out on his own a SHIELD agent told him. Tony had just put in the arc reactor which would power Stark Tower and returned to have dinner with Pepper and her fiancé, David, when it happened. 

Agent Coulson came in and attempted to hand him a file which he claimed had urgent matters. He waited until Pepper took it and handed it to him because he knew that being handed things by new people made his Seiðr flare up to try and investigate. However as soon as Pepper handed it to him he pulled it up into the air. He spotted the word Loki and instantly dove into the file flapping his hand to excuse Pepper, David, and Coulson. As they walked out, he read all about Loki's actions. 

It shocked him, the Loki he had seen in Thor's memory had would not have come after Midgard. The only reason he had attacked Jotunheim was in a poor attempt to make Odin appreciate him. Even Tony knew Odin held no grudge against Midgard. 

When Jarvis told him that Loki had been seen in Germany Tony suited up and spelled his suit to get him there even sooner. Unfortunately he wasn't the first to arrive, Captain America and a SHIELD jet were already there. So he blasted rock music through the jets speakers and came down to target Loki. 

He was in the jet meeting the captain when the thunder began. Groaning internally at the feel of another Æsir Tony let Thor grab Loki so that he could follow and fight away from Steve. 

He stayed away for a little while allowing Thor to attempt to convince Loki to come home. However when he realized it was going no where he pulled Thor away so that Tony would have the ability to get Loki alone. It didn't work instead he ended up fighting the Æsir. 

He enjoyed it though, sneaking in bits of his powers as he fought the large man. It had been a very long time since he had fought a worthy opponent and Thor, though he wasn't quite there yet, would grow to be one as he aged. Then the captain interrupted and Tony never got his chance to speak to Loki. 

Instead the arrived at the helicarrier with company and he opted to go get cleaned up. He went in to speak with the Avengers to distract himself from his failure. He had vowed to help Loki and he had missed his chance now the only way to do it would be to reveal himself. 

So Tony waited for the perfect moment to get to Loki and got to know the Avengers. When he tazed Banner and Steve asked if he enjoyed threatening everyone's safety he rolled his eyes internally. Bruce wouldn't hurt anyone, Tony could contain the hulk. 

When he saw Natasha go talk to Loki, he knew his time was coming. There were no guards there, Natasha didn't need them and if he appeared before she left they wouldn't be there for is conversation. 

He waited until Natasha said, "So Banner, that's your play," before he waltzed into the room. 

"Actually it isn't," Tony said, "He doesn't have any play he's being controlled right now, he's a puppet."

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked, she was to smart to outright ignore what Tony was saying. 

"Yes, what do you mean?" Loki questioned approaching curiously. 

"You don't need to be in this conversation," Tony said shooing him away, "Thanos sure as hell didn't let you remember you were mind fucked. You think this whole invasion was partially your idea."

Loki froze, "How did you know that name? No Midgardian has ever heard of Thanos."

Muttering Natasha replied, "Well they have now."

Tony ignored the both of them to say, "Look, just bring Nick and Thor in here so I only have to go over it once. Also Thor can back me up, I'm sure he has heard of Thanos."

"And where did you hear of him?" Loki question as Natasha took a step away. 

Knowing that the assassin was still listening to them Tony sent out a wave of magic to force him to obey his next words, "Shut up."

Leaning against the wall Tony watched Loki, the godling had taken to glaring at him once he had realized he could no longer speak. However behind the anger Tony could see the confusion about how a mere mortal had quieted him. This caused Tony to smile bitterly, how he wished he had been born a human. Perhaps then he would not have suffered the way he did. His most trusted friend pushing him into the void in order to steal the crown. He had been trapped in the void for far to long, long enough for at least seven Ragnaröks to occur. When Yggdrasil had finally accepted him back into her branches he had discovered that all nine of the realms had been changed, their people different. The closest he had found to his own species had been the Æsir and he had joined their court at their assumption that he was of Asgard. 

Before Tony could dwell on the past anymore the Avengers, sans Bruce and Barton, gathered before. Looking out over their faces Tony gave a false smile before temporarily deafening Loki. He didn't need to know this information until he was back in his right mind. 

"I'd tell you you might want to sit down for this, but there is no where to sit." Tony said smirking with false bravado. 

"What did you wish to tell us Man of Iron?" Thor inquired. 

"Well first off," Tony said redirecting the conversation, "Have you heard of Thanos?"

 

"The Mad Titan? Of course I have, all of Asgard know that he fell in love with Mistress Death. Of course, nobody knows where he has gone or what he plans to do to please Mistress Death." Thor replied steadily. 

Deciding to try and evade his own identity for as long as possible Tony continued, "I know what he wants to do for her. He plans to invade Earth, in order to do so he is using Loki as a puppet, he can't risk showing his own face lest this fails. Before you ask, Loki is being mind controlled much the same a Barton and Dr. Selvig."

"And you know this how?" Fury asked not bothering to hide his doubt. 

Even Thor looked skeptical and so Tony began to say a little more, "I can sense it. That Loki isn't himself, just ask Thor he can tell you that even though Loki is mad at Odin this is extreme."

"Well yes," Thor rumbled, "Loki has always been more mischievous than murderous. The only time has done anything evil or even remotely similar it was because he believed our Father wanted it but that is not the case this time."

Turning to Thor Fury asked, "Would you be able to tell if some one is using mind control on him?"

"No, only someone with large reserves of Seiðr could do that." The reply came instantly. 

"So, Stark, tell me how a human like you could tell if Loki is being controlled." Fury smirked assuming that he had beat the inventor into submission. 

With a hearty sight Tony gave in, "Well now you're just making assumptions, I never said I was a human did I?" 

There was a loud clamor but the most prominent voice were Fury yelling, "This isn't the time to fool around Stark," and Thor asking, "What realm do you hail from Friend Tony?"

Deciding to Ignore Fury he replied, "My people were similar to the Æsir, only we all had a form of magic and in our true forms we all have these in our chest," he tapped his arc reactor lovingly. 

"I have not heard of such a people," Thor declared. 

"No, you wouldn't have," Tony said with bitterness, "they all died off long before you were born little godling."

Thor bristled at the moniker, but Tony ignored him in favor of pointing at the cage that Loki was trapped in, "I'm gonna go remove Thanos from his skull, if you'll excuse me."

"Like hell you will," Fury said, "We aren't letting you in there with him."

"You don't have to Nick, I've got it all covered," Tony Said with a smirk before he walked straight through the container towards Loki. 

The Jotun stepped back in surprise and as Tony removed his deafness and muteness spells from Loki the prince staggered backwards. Then, stalking forwards Tony grabbed his face and held it there peering into his eyes. 

Then, slowly, ever so slowly he was falling into the darkness that was Loki's mind. 

He was floating and he was alone in the nothingness that was the void. He thought perhaps this is the most efficient psychological warfare. He didn't know how long he had been floating here all he knew was that it had been to long. 

Then there was a light and a ship as sensation. All of which he hadn't seen in what felt like years. He soon discovered it'd only been a day. Still there was finally sensation and he was glad to embrace it. Then the other showed up and took him to Thanos. There he hatched a plan he asked Thanos to help him invade the Earth, his brothers belov-

Tony cut the memory off there. He what he needed, the very moment where Thanos's tampering began. With closed eyes Tony touched his window to his Seiðr soul , or arc rector as the Midgardians thought of it, and pulled magic out if it. Then he wrapped the tendrils around Loki's false memories and pulled till the real ones came free. 

He was seated before Thanos still numb from the void when his head was grabbed and wrenched to the side. The other approached Thanos with a bowl full of herbs which were laid down on his face. He held immobile be powerful magic as Thanos muttered the spell to tuck away the real memories so they would resurface over the provided ones. 

Breaking free once more, Tony pushed Loki away from him, unsurprised to see that he had reverted to his Jotun form and was unconscious on the floor. The procedure was sure to have extracted tons of energy from the godling in fact even Tony, with full power, would have been tired had he been on the receiving end. However, Tony's part was still not done, he hel onto the small tendril of Thanos's mind which had been tucked between memories and he used it to summon the rest of Thanos's mind. Upon its arrival he powered in his own pain from time in the void and he filled his consciousness until it burst into little pieces. Tony har a small smile at the victory but that was all. 

As it was all that Tony felt was numb, the memories of the void, even just that single day of nothingness had brought back his own memories of those few millennia when he had been trapped. Walking out of the cage Tony was barely able prevent himself with shaking. Instead he focused on Thor's boisterous voice. 

"Friend, that was indeed impressive, I believe that Odin could feel you're magic working even from here. What did you say your true name was?"

"I am Antonius," He muttered, "That Is all you need to know."

"No that isn't all I need to know," Fury roared, "How the hell did an alien become the child of Howard and Maria Stark?"

"Oh yes, I had forgotten that it was a secret, I was adopted. I sensed it when Howard entered that I needed to go with them and so I shifted into a baby. Now here I am. Anybody else want a drink or is it just me?"

"I think I need one," Steve muttered, and feeling pity Tony summoned him some whiskey. 

"Now, I am going to take Loki back to my tower and I am going to let him rest. Thanos is dead so you don't have to deal with him. What ever else you kids get up to I don't really care call Pepper If you need me."

"Stark! You can't just leave us like that, at least tell us what happened to Thanos!" Natasha ordered only to find herself looking into Tony's tired brown eyes. 

"He was annoying me, so I poured my memories of the void into his head until the pain tore him apart." Tony snarled at them before stomping back into Loki's cage and teleporting him back to Stark Tower. 

They were left in silence for only a moment before Thor spoke once more, "We are most fortunate to have Sir Antonius on our side."


End file.
